The Helpers - A McRoll in the REAL World Story
by Mari217
Summary: Part 1 of the 4th Annual Thanksgiving Marathon Aaron takes Joan to visit Catherine at work and she gets a few surprises as she learns new things.


_Sammy & Ilna, thanks for the assist on this one. As we enter the 4th Annual McRoll in the REAL World Thanksgiving Marathon it's just as much fun as day one. More, even, because you've become family and I'm very, very thankful for you both._

 _REALMcRollers, we're thankful you're along on this incredible ride with us. Love and hugs to you all._

 _Thanks to Sammy for another wonderful title. And to Mr. Rogers' mom for her amazing insight._

" _When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." - Mr. Rogers._

* * *

 _ **The Helpers  
** **Part 1 of the 4th Annual Thanksgiving Marathon** **  
**_

Joan ran to hug Catherine soon as they entered her office. "Ann Caf! We' at you' wo'k!"

"Hi, sweetheart, I'm so happy you came to visit." She gave Aaron a smile and introduced them to Jen. "Jen, this is my brother-in-law …"

"No introduction needed." Jen grinned. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Reyes, and this must be the famous Joan." She bent to the little girl's level. "Hi, honey."

"Hi! We' having lunch with Ann Caf 'cause Mama's going shopping wif Ann Elizabef fo' Thanksgiving." Her expression said she was happy with her part of that equation.

"I can see why lunch with Aunt Catherine and your daddy might be more fun." Jen winked at Joan and straightened to look at her father who said, "It's Aaron, please."

He extended his hand and Joan, copying his gesture, did the same. That earned her a huge smile from Lea who tapped on the door frame as she entered.

"Hi, Joan, welcome to the state capitol." She nodded to Aaron. "Nice to see you both again."

"And you." He placed a hand on Joan's shoulder as she said, "Hi!"

Lea handed Catherine a folder. "These are the latest projections on the cost of the highway bill. I'm out after my call with Senator Tanaka. Why don't you take the rest of the day and show Miss Joan around. Enjoy the afternoon with your family."

"I …" Catherine began to protest, but Lea insisted. "Please. Give a little tour to someone who isn't looking for free PR and a photo op with my chief of staff." She grinned and Catherine thanked her.

"Aaron, Joan, nice to see you both. Enjoy the holiday," Lea said. "And please tell Mary happy Thanksgiving."

* * *

After Joan sat behind Catherine's desk and swiveled the chair in circles, she pointed out the framed photo of herself to her dad and explored the one unlocked drawer. She wrote JOAN and with her Dad's help, ANGIE on the legal pad and traced the letters with a highlighter before she hopped down and took her aunt's offered hand.

"Do you want to see where your cousin Angie stays when she comes to work with me?"

"Baby Angie wo'ks wif you?" Joan's eyes grew and she pointed to the nameplate when Aaron chuckled. "What's that say, Daddy?"

"It says, _Angeline McGarrett's Office_ ," he read aloud. "That's adorable, Catherine."

"Isn't it? They had it all set up before her first day here."

"Is Baby Angie he'we?" Joan stage whispered.

"She's home with Esther and Cammie today," Catherine explained. "I had a long meeting this morning so it was a better for her to be home because I couldn't be in my office all day."

* * *

A trip outside because Catherine knew Joan would like the reflecting pools and a stop to see the large glass mosaic in the courtyard, found them running into Carol Eldridge, a legislator who genuinely cared about the interests of the people in her district. She'd been happy to see the changes the new governor and her chief of staff were attempting to bring about and greeted Catherine and her guests with a smile.

"Say hello to Ms. Eldridge, Joan," Aaron prompted as he shook the older woman's hand.

"Hi, we'e seeing Ann Caf's wo'k."

Carol Eldridge squatted to Joan's level. "Can you remember something for me, Joan?" the youthful-looking grandmother of three asked.

"Yes." Joan nodded seriously.

"Remember when you came to the state capitol that your aunt has already helped a lot of people. Lots of them are children like you." She stood and smiled at Catherine. "And she's going to help a lot more."

"Thank you." Catherine smiled. "We hope so."

"You have a good visit," she addressed father and daughter and glanced at the chief of staff who'd earned the respect of everyone with whom she'd interacted. "Happy Thanksgiving, Lieutenant."

Catherine returned the good wishes and as Carol walked away, checked her watch and glanced at her niece. "What do you think about having some lunch in the cafeteria? Are you getting hungry?"

Joan nodded vigorously, her ponytail bouncing as she did. "I'm hungwy! Are you hungwy, Daddy?"

"Definitely." He took her hand. "Let's go see where the people who work for Governor Kekoa eat, okay?"

"Okay!" Offering her other hand to Catherine, Joan happily accompanied them back inside the building where several interns greeted her aunt with respectful, "Hello, Lieutenant's" and the uniformed guard waved with a simple, "Have a good day, ma'am."

Just as they approached the bank of elevators, the four year old gasped at a familiar, smiling face as she heard, "Hey, Joan!"

"Cody!" she squealed as Aaron reminded her, "Indoor voice, pumpkin."

"Cody!" she repeated in a whisper-yell, unable to contain her excitement at seeing one of her extended family members unexpectedly. "Daddy, it's _Cody!"_

When he reached the trio, Cody scooped the excited little girl up for a hug. "Surprise!"

"Su'pwise," she repeated. "Why a' you he'we, Cody?"

"I work here on the days I'm not in college."

"You wo'k wif Ann Caf?" She puzzled that out in her mind.

"More like I work _for_ Aunt Cath, but yeah. It's pretty cool, too." He winked and placed her on her feet.

"You coming to eat wif us? We'e going to the cafetewia."

"I can't today," he said with a head shake, "I have a class in 45 minutes. If your dad says it's okay, have a cookie for me." He grinned at Aaron. "They have awesome chocolate fudge cookies," he told Joan. "Angie really liked them when she was in your Aunt Catherine's tummy."

"She loved them," Catherine confirmed. "We should get down there before they're all gone." She turned to Cody. "I took a look at your paper this morning." She smiled. "Great job."

He ducked his head and grinned a half-grin. "Thanks. Azami helped me gather the data." Checking the time, he said, "I have to run. I'll see you on Thanksgiving, Joan. Enjoy the tour and have fun at lunch."

He stepped back as they boarded the elevator, but didn't move down the hall until they were out of sight. Joan was waving to him and he didn't turn his back until the doors closed.

* * *

With a tray containing two mahi mahi platters, a turkey club sandwich, and a grilled cheese with french fries, they made their way to the checkout.

"Hi, Lieutenant. Dining with an important dignitary, I see," the smiling woman greeted her.

"This is my brother-in-law, Aaron, and my niece, Joan," she said as they scanned her ID badge for their meal. "Joanna keeps the whole building fed. She supervises the cafeteria and they cater all our meetings."

"Hi, Joanna." Aaron nodded and smiled when Joan echoed, "Hi, I got gwilled cheese and fwench fwies."

"I kinda figured those were yours." She pulled a ribbon-tied cello bag of cookies from behind the register. "These are for you." She looked at Catherine. "Cody Allen stopped by and bought them. He told me to hold them for a very special visitor named Joan."

"That's me! I'm Joan!" She pointed at herself with a smile.

"We'll have to remember to thank Cody when we see him, right, pumpkin?" Aaron ran a hand over her hair.

"Yes!" She nodded. "Ann Caf, Baby Angie can have one." She held the package up to show her aunt.

"Oh, sweetie, that's so nice of you, but Angie liked them when she was in my tummy. She could share what I ate then but right now she's still too little for cookies. I tell you what, though, she's eating baby food so you can help feed her some of that."

She flung the hand that wasn't holding the cookies in the air. "Yay! I'll help."

Aaron lifted the tray just as Joan turned and squealed. Across the cafeteria, Steve was striding towards them.

"Joanie!" he called with a wave.

"Unca Steve!"

When reached them he lifted her into a hug, holding her aloft until they chose a table in an alcove. "Can I have lunch with you, too?" He winked.

"I got cookies. Angie's too little, but I can help feed her baby food," she announced, then holding up the bag, asked, "You want a cookie?"

Steve kissed her cheek with a thank you and declined. "I bet Angie would love to have you help feed her." He shared a smile with Catherine.

"That's great sharing, pumpkin." Aaron grinned thinking of the messy scene that was sure to transpire. He looked forward to capturing it on video. "How about we eat our lunch first, okay?"

" 'Kay." Joan sat up on her knees next to Catherine, across from Steve and her dad. "Can I do the ketchup?"

Aaron helped open the packets and she squeezed a large dollop of ketchup on the side of her plate. Carefully dipping one quarter of her sandwich she took a bite and pronounced it "nummy."

Steve and Aaron dug into their lunches and Catherine ate hers while helping Joan eat without wearing more ketchup than she consumed.

* * *

"So Joan, would you like to see where Uncle Steve works?" Catherine said as the little girl wiped the cookie crumbs from her mouth with an oversized napkin and Aaron added the two uneaten cookies to his knapsack to 'save for later'.

"Now?" Joan looked at her aunt and father.

"Right now." Steve nodded. They'd decided to keep it as a surprise on the chance a case came up and he'd have to leave. He didn't want Joan disappointed if she was expecting a visit.

"You goin' to get a bad guy?"

"Nope." He scooped her up again and she squealed with laughter. "Right now I'm taking you to see HQ."

"HQ," Joan repeated, her brow furrowing.

"That means headquarters," Aaron explained. "It's where Uncle Steve works. And we're going to keep using our indoor voice, right?" He offered a hand to high five.

She giggled, took his outstretched hand from her perch on Steve's shoulders and shook. "Right, Daddy."

On Steve's other side, Catherine gently touched his arm and he turned to catch her eyes. Both were thinking that in a few short years, that would be Angie riding his shoulders while a school aged Joan giggled along with her cousin.

* * *

Upon seeing an HPD officer in the lobby, Joan waved excitedly. "We'e going to Unca Steve's wo'k." She grinned up at him while holding fast to her uncle's hand. "Do you know Unca Steve? He catches all the bad guys."

Catherine smiled when the young officer answered. "Everyone knows the commander, um, your Uncle Steve." He glanced up at the task force commander who was looking very much at home holding the hand of the little blond girl and nodded in greeting. "Sir. Lieutenant Rollins." He greeted Aaron, who was getting his visitor's badge checked before they proceeded to the corridor.

Joan's visit to HQ had her happily exploring the suite, her eyes widening when Kono texted a quick photo to Chin who put it on the large screen above the smarttable. "It's me!" Her head whipped around to look at Aaron. "Daddy, look, I'm up the'we!"

Aaron took a picture of Joan with the screen behind her. "I'm sending it to your mama right now."

Mary's return text included her brother and sister-in-law. _**Guess when your uncle is a BAMF commander it's actually fun to have your face up in a police station. I'm happy she's got so many protectors. Xoxo**_

"What did Mama say?" Joan reached to tug on Aaron's arm.

"She said have fun and you're a lucky little girl to have your Uncle Steve and Aunt Cath to watch out for you." He smiled at both and kissed his daughter's cheek. "Not to mention all the rest of the family." He indicated Chin and Kono as Max appeared through the glass doors with an evidence folder.

Seeing his white coat, Joan inquired if he was a doctor like her doctor at home.

"I am not that kind of doctor, Joan, my work is limited to cada…" Steve and Aaron's looks and Catherine's head shake had him finishing with, "evidence. I provide analysis of evidence to the task force and police department."

Joan looked between the adults, confused. "Does he give shots? I don't like shots."

Catherine smiled and said, "Max doesn't give shots. He helps Uncle Steve and the whole police department by checking out the clues they find." She ran a hand over Joan's ponytail. "Remember we talked about clues?"

"Like on Blue's Clues." Joan nodded again and looked at Max. "Her friend's name is Steve like Unca Steve."

Seconds later a familiar voice called, "Is Joan still here?" and Danny appeared.

"Uncle Danno, you he'we!" Joan ran up for a hug.

"Uncle Danno works with Uncle Steve, too," Aaron reminded her.

Lifting her for a hug before setting her on her feet, Danny grinned. "I was in court but I ran right back so I wouldn't miss you." He kissed her cheek, then addressed Steve who'd looked at him in question, "Three consecutive life sentences." His statement had the partners nodding in unison.

"Was Judge Linda there? She's nice."

"I was with a different judge, but I bet Judge Linda's super nice." Danny grinned as she nodded and turned a beautiful smile on her dad who beamed at her in return.

A short time later Joan had collected quite a few small gifts which Aaron added to the knapsack. Throughout her visit, she'd gotten a plastic badge from Duke, a children's pamphlet on _Iolani Palace_ and a _Be Safe, Be Smart!_ water safety, and coloring book from the public safety officer.

Since Catherine had the afternoon off and Esther dropped Angie at her grandparents', Catherine followed them outside to head to the condo.

* * *

Elizabeth opened the door to Joan bursting inside. A ball of excitement, she couldn't wait to recount her adventure.

Sitting on the sofa between Mary and Smokey, she animatedly explained her visit to Catherine's office and her tour of the capitol, followed by a 'nummy lunch', Uncle Steve's surprise appearance and her trip to see where he goes to 'be a commandew.'

Displaying the treasures she gathered for all to see, she addressed her cousin who was being cuddled in Catherine's arms. "Baby Angie, Ann Caf said you'e too little to sha'e my cookies, but I can help feed you." As soon as the words left her mouth, the realization hit her and she asked, "Is it time for Baby Angie to eat now?"

Catherine placed a kiss on the baby's head. She couldn't seem to cuddle her enough since returning from reserves. "Not quite yet, sweetie. She ate for Esther a little while ago, but we're going to have dinner here with you, so you can help feed her some sweet potatoes and pears, okay?"

Joan's eyes lit and she turned to Elizabeth. "What time is dinner?"

"We're having an early dinner. Five o'clock. That's just about two hours," Elizabeth smiled. "As soon as Grandma Ang and Aunt Deb get back from playing bingo with her friends downstairs."

"I like Gwamma Ang's fwends. They give me chocolate kisses," Joan said.

"They'd have given her the whole bag if I let them." Mary chuckled. "How about you have a little snooze after that big adventure and then you and Baby Angie can have dinner at the same time?"

"I'm not sweepy, Mama." The statement was accompanied by a yawn and everyone smiled.

"I am," Aaron said. "How about we go read a story and you keep me company while I take a nap?"

Joan looked around and nodded. "Can we read _Blue's Clues_?"

* * *

Since Steve's day wrapped up fairly early he was able to join the family for dinner. He had his niece perched on his knee as she chattered to the baby while carefully helping him spoon the last bit of mashed pears into Angie's mouth. When her tiny cousin was finished, Joan happily took her seat and picked up her hotdog.

Joseph grinned at and repeated a question he and Elizabeth often asked a young Catherine. "You told us all the fun you had, Joan, can you tell me something new you learned that you didn't know before?

She thought for a minute and nodded, "Unca Steve has a big desk cause he's the commandew and he keeps eve'ybody safe from bad guys. He puts 'em in the jail." She took a breath. "And Ann Caf helps people an' she's the boss … 'cept not of Goveno' Lea. Ann Caf _very_ impo'tant." Joan looked at her aunt with a grin. "I wanna be that, too."

Steve smiled. His proud eyes glancing at his wife. "You want to be a chief of staff, Joanie?"

She raised her shoulders in a shrug. "I wanna help people."

 _#End thanks for reading_

* * *

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